[David Laurila]

On the eave of the Winter Meetings, I thought it might be interesting to revisit one of Dan Duquette's finest moments, which was the acquisition of Pedro Martinez from the Expos in 1997. The deal didn't happen at the meetings themselves, but it was certainly a hot topic there, much like Roy Halladay discussions will be in Indianapolis.

To kick-start this, Jim Beattie, who made the trade as Montreal's GM, talked extensively on the subject in an interview at BP. Among the things he said was:

"It was a fascinating exercise to go through, to talk to other general managers about, "Who would you trade for Pedro Martinez?"

and

"I don’t know if Pedro ever said this, but he wasn’t excited about coming to Boston. He was hoping that he was going to go to, maybe, New York, or to some other clubs. Boston was not something that he was all that excited about."

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=9825

[Rudy Pemberton]

Yeah, at first, didn't Pedro essentially declare that he would not sign an extension with the Red Sox?

[MoGator71]

Yeah, at first, didn't Pedro essentially declare that he would not sign an extension with the Red Sox?

That's the way I remember it also. Seems there was some recruiting that went on.

[FelixMantilla]

It's too bad Beattie won't name the other teams/players involved in the possible Pedro deals. I'm pretty sure one of them was the Indians who refused to trade Jarret Wright.

[mt8thsw9th]

That's the way I remember it also. Seems there was some recruiting that went on.

This has been confirmed.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129...pg=4665,5858598

"Martinez, at first, was reluctant to sign a long-term contract with the Red Sox, but the team convinced him he would be happy in Boston."

[mt8thsw9th]

It's too bad Beattie won't name the other teams/players involved in the possible Pedro deals. I'm pretty sure one of them was the Indians who refused to trade Jarret Wright.

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/15/sports/b...-fire-sale.html

Neither Beattie nor Watson would say so, but the Expos are believed to have asked the Yankees for pitcher Ramiro Mendoza, catcher Jorge Posada and two minor leaguers, outfielder Rickey Ledee and third baseman Mike Lowell.

Source:

[JimD]

It's too bad Beattie won't name the other teams/players involved in the possible Pedro deals. I'm pretty sure one of them was the Indians who refused to trade Jarret Wright.

If memory serves, John Hart rerfused to pull the trigger on the deal because Beattie was insisting on including both Wright and Bartolo Colon.

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

This has been confirmed.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129...pg=4665,5858598

"Martinez, at first, was reluctant to sign a long-term contract with the Red Sox, but the team convinced him he would be happy in Boston."

I'm sure the $75 million they gave him didn't hurt either. Was that the largest contract for a pitcher ever up to that point in time? The Mike Hampton/Kevin Brown deals came a few years later.

[Steve Dillard]

This has been confirmed.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129...pg=4665,5858598

"Martinez, at first, was reluctant to sign a long-term contract with the Red Sox, but the team convinced him he would be happy in Boston."

yes, the Yankee type of "recruiting"

National League Cy Young Award winner Pedro Martinez said Wednesday he had agreed to a record-setting $75 million, six-year contract with the Boston Red Sox

The biggest signing of the off season, however, is the six-year contract for $75 million that the Boston Red Sox gave Pedro Martinez, the National League Cy Young Award winner from the Expos.

''I think there is no better place to win it than here,'' Martinez said said yesterday in Boston, where the signing was officially announced. ''All the attention I'm getting and all the hope I see in the people's eyes for just being here, imagine what would happen if we won the World Series. I imagine they would turn the city upside down.''

only to sign Pedro Martinez for a mind-boggling six-year, $75 million deal

The same way they wooed Manny Ramirez from the Yankees. By paying an unheard of deal. The same way the Yankees "recruited" Teixeira, by paying "too much".

[djhb20]

but the Expos are believed to have asked the Yankees for pitcher Ramiro Mendoza, catcher Jorge Posada and two minor leaguers, outfielder Rickey Ledee and third baseman Mike Lowell.

Wow, that would have been an interesting trade. Even Ledee, the ugly duckling of that group, had a fair major league career. Would the Yankees have benefited from that trade?

Of course, in real life, they didn't make that trade and then won three straight championships, so it's hard to say that they could have been better. But, man, was Pedro good for the Sox. Still, at first glance, that looks like a lot to give up, even for Pedro. Certainly Pavano and Co. didn't work out as well for Montreal as that Yankees haul likely would have. Ironically, Pavano didn't work out so well for the Yankees either...

ETA: Link to Ledee's career.

This post has been edited by djhb20: 07 December 2009 - 10:02 AM

[MoGator71]

That's exactly the kind of trade you make though, especially if you're the MFY's and can afford to both extend elite talent once they acquire it and sign above average FA talent to replace the guys you give up. But it also would have been a very nice haul for Montreal, and certainly better than what they got from the Sox. That potential deal is reminiscent of the Colon-to-Montreal deal with Lee, Sizemore, and Phillips going to Cleveland...except that the prize going to Montreal was certainly no Pedro.

[Archer1979]

It should be important to note that if the Yankees were on the top of their game, they wouldn't have made this trade:

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/14/sports/y...ck-stanley.html

The Yankees acquired the 34-year-old Stanley and the minor league infielder Randy Brown for Tony Armas, a 19-year-old right-handed pitcher, and a player from the Yankees' 40-man roster to be named later.

I remember reading afterwards that the Yankees were upset that the Expos took Boston's deal and not theirs. Montreal's response was "You didn't have Tony Arma Jr.".

Point:Duquette